Table attachment for furniture



April 21, 1953 v. R. ZENTMIRE TABLE ATTACHMENT FOR FURNITURE Filed May4, 1951 INVENTOR wee/4 e. ZEN TM/eE,

ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 21, 1953 UNITED STATE aeaassd- TABLE ATTACHMENTFOR FURNITURE VlrgilR. Zentmire, Seward, Territory of Alaska ApplicationMay 4, 1951,'Serial 'No. 224,483

This invention relates to attachments for furniture and moreparticularly to a table or tray attachment adjustably mountable on anarticle of furniture havingaseat.

3 It is among the objects of the invention to provide a table or trayattachment which can be easily mounted on an article of furniture havinga seat to support articles, such as drinking glasses or ashtrays, inconvenient reach of a person using the seat; which can be folded anddisposed entirely below the seat of the associated article of furniturewhen the attachment is not in use; which is adjustable in height and maybe adjustably positioned relative to the associated seat; and which issimple and'durable in construction, economical to manufacture and neatand attractive in appearance; y

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a considerationof the following description and the appended claim in conjunction withthe accompanying drawing whereini Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspectiveview of an article of furniture having a seat frame showing a tableattachment illustrative of the invention operatively applied thereto; Y

Figure 2 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on an enlarged scale onthe line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view on the line 3-3 of Figure2;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional view similar to Figure 2 butshowing the attachment in folded condition and disposed below the seatframe of the article of furniture; and

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a'hinge constituting an operativecomponent of the attachment. 4

With continued reference to the drawing, the article of furniture may bea chair or sofa of known construction and have a seat frame If]supported on front legs II and rear legs l2 and supporting a seat I 3carrying seat cushions l4. Since the attachment may be applied tovarious articles of furniture of known construction, a more detaileddescription of the sofa is considered unnecessary for the purposes ofthe pres ent disclosure.

The attachment comprises a guideway l5 disposed against the under sideof the seat frame I9 and extending transversely of the seat frame, andcomprises a pair of elongated L-s-haped guide members It and i1 havingan outwardly directed upper flange l8 secured to the seat frame of thesofa, and an inwardly directed lower flange l9 connected to the upperflange by a web portion 20 disposed substantially perpendicular to bothflanges.

A slideplate 2| is engaged in'the guideway and slidably rests on theinwardly directed lower flanges l9 of the guide members It and I1, andtongues 22 and 23 struck from the plate 2| bear against the undersurfaces of the lower flanges |9 of :the guide members I6 and I1,respectively, the tongues being located near the rear'or inward end ofthe plate 2|. The slide plate 2| is thus held in the guideway againstrocking movement relative to the guideway and is spaced below the underside of the seat frame to of the article of furniture to provide spaceto receive the table attachment when the attachment is infolded'condition. H A crossbar 24 extends between the lower flanges IQof thepguide members l6 and I1 atthe front end of the guideway toreinforce the guidewayand provide support for the table attach m I v Theslide plate 2| extends forwardly out of the open front end of theguideway, when the attachment is in operative position, as isillustrated in Figures 1 and 2. hingedly connected at, one end to theplate 2| at its outer end 25 by a hinge 21 which is effective to supportthe standard in upright position substantially perpendicular tothe plate2|, as is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, or to permit the standard tofold down onto the plate 2| for reception in the guideway, as isillustrated in Figure 4.

The standard 26 includes a lower bar 28 hav-- ing preferably the samewidth and cross section as the slide plate 2|, and a similar upper bar29 provided with a longitudinally extending slot 30. The lower bar 28 ofthe standard is provided near its end remote from the hinge 21 with anaperture and a bolt 3| extends through the slot 39 in the upper bar 29and through the aperture in the lower bar 28 and is provided with a wingnut 32 for clamping the bars 28 and 29 together in selected positions oflongitudinal adjustment relative to each other determining the height ofthe device when in use.

A rectangular tray 33 having upstanding marginal flanges 34 is connectedto the upper or free end of the upper bar 29 of the standard 26 by ahinge 35, illustrated in detail in Figure 5.

This hinge has a leaf 36 secured to the under side of the tray 33 an'd'aleaf 31 secured to the upper bar 29. The leav'es'36 and 31 are providedwith complementary barrels and receive a hinge ,pin 38 which pivotallyconnects the leaves together' The barrel formation 39 on the leaf 36 isengaged between the barrels 40 and 4| on the leaf 31 and is spaced fromthe barrel A two-part standard 26 is Q 3 4|. A compression springsurrounds the hinge pin 38 between the barrel 4| and the barrel 39, andthe'barrel 39 is provided at its other end with a detent 43 which isforced into a recess in the adjacent end of the barrel 40 by the spring42 so as to releasably lock the hinge in the position illustrated inFigure 5 in which the tray 33 is supported substantially perpendicularto the standard. 26'. Under these conditions, in the operative positionof the device, the plate 2| is substantially horizontal and the standard25 is substantially perpendicular, and the tray 33 is supported in asubstantially horizontal position. In the folded position of the device,the hinge 35 permits the tray to be. folded. to aposition in which it issubstantially parallel to the upper bar 29 of the standard, so that thetray can be received together with the standard 26 and the side plate 2|in. the guideway, as illustrated in Figure 4.

When. the. attachment is. in its operative position, as illustrated inFigures 1 and 2, the crossbar-2 4; provides a support for the slideplate 2| intermediate the length thereof, so. that the tray can be movedtoward and away fromv the front side ofthe seat frame of the associatedarticle of furniture and will be firmly supported in its variouspositions. of vertical and horizontal adjustment relative to the. seatframe ||J..

The invention may be embodied. in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit. or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all. respects asillustrative and not restrictive, the

scope of the. invention being defined by the appended claim rather thanby the foregoing description, and all changes which come within claimis, therefore, therein.

What is claimed is:

In an attachment for a seat frame, a slideway adapted to be secured tothe under side of the seat frame comprising a pair of laterally spacedL-shaped guide members, said L-shaped guide members having verticalflanges adapted to be secured to the seat frame and horizontal flangesthereby spaced from the under side of the seat frame and projectinglaterally inwardly toward each other, the horizontal flanges beinglaterally spaced from each other, a slide plate against the verticalflanges of the guide members, said slide plate having a rear end portionand a forward end portion, said rear end portion having fingersextending therefrom and slidably engaged under the horizontal flanges oftheguide. memberaa standard having a lower end hinged on the saidforward end portion. to overlie said slide platewith the slide platepositioned rearwardly within theguideway and to occupy an erect positionforwardly of the seat framein a forwardly withdrawn'position of theslide. plate, and a tray hinged on the upper end of the standard, saidtray being arranged to be hinged to occupy a horizontal position in theerect position of the standard and to be hinged to occupy a positionalongside of the standard and overlying the slide plate within theguideway in a rearward: inoperativeposition of the slide plate withinthe guideway.v

VIRGIL R. ZENTMIRE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date- 2,555,144= Londerman May 29, 1951

